


These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

by winglesswarrior



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Future Fic, M/M, Mistletoe, Not too distant future though, presents wrapped in tinfoil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 09:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3245348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winglesswarrior/pseuds/winglesswarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You told him!"</p><p>Louis grumbled and wandered away from Harry, sure he'd need a drink to get through this conversation. Harry wasn't even supposed to be here this early and if he didn't get lost, he'd ruin the pre-party meet up that Louis and Liam had planned. "I didn't really tell him as much as..." He headed right for the fridge, but hesitated before pulling out the beer he thought he wanted. </p><p>"As you grabbed him and kissed him and demanded he realize the reason you two are both single is because you're in love!" Harry sounded stupidly excited and Louis had to take a deep breath before he spoke again. </p><p>"No. Not that either. We just...realized something needed to change." Something huge actually.</p><p>----------</p><p>A Christmas not-so-distant future fic full of gifts that mean far too much and a box wrapped in tinfoil made to look like a swan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

**Author's Note:**

> This is all, all, _ALL_ qdpoisson's fault. In mid January she posts "would love to see a 1D fic where there are presents wrapped in tinfoil" and of course my brain doesn't let go until there's this. 
> 
> So happy late Christmas, enjoy some fluff and banter. 
> 
> (And I firmly believe it's nearly impossible to remove Harry from one's house when one desperately needs him to just go.) 
> 
> As always, this is purely fictional representations of the people mentioned here and none of it is true.

“Lou! Where’s the wrapping paper?” Harry was yelling from the foyer after slamming the front door to Louis’ small house. 

He peeked out over the railing of the upstairs, fixing his tie for the party tonight. “Err, don’t have any left, Haz,” he called back, then finished off the tie and hopped down the stairs, looking for Harry who’d wandered deeper into the house like it was his. 

“How can you not have any left? I watched you buy three rolls just yesterday.” Louis rolled his eyes then headed towards Harry’s voice, finding him in the living room. “Oi, take that back. What the hell is all that?” 

Louis knew what he was asking about before Harry even started, but he leaned in the doorway and shrugged. The tree was fake, not huge, but loaded down with lights, ornaments, and garland. The tree wasn’t what Harry was noticing though. It was the giant pile of presents under it. He’d bought three types of paper the day before: Marvel super heroes, My Little Ponies and plain snowmen. He’d gone a touch overboard for his siblings gift wise and the girls all had theirs wrapped in the My Little Pony paper, his mom and Dan’s in snowmen and theirs were bigger. Ernie’s things were in Marvel paper of course, but that was maybe a third of the Marvel gifts. The rest were sort of half taking over the space in front of the tree and Louis just ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Err, Liam and I are doing Christmas this year.” 

Harry looked over his shoulder. “You’re doing Christmas _Christmas_?” His voice pitched up and Louis tried not to wince. 

“Um, yes,” Louis said.

Harry looked at the presents, then back at Louis. “We haven’t done gifts in years.” 

Louis knew that was very true and didn’t want to go into it or why they were suddenly doing gifts. “Well, things are different. We changed it this year.” 

It was one of those moments Louis hoped Harry would gloss over, but apparently that wasn’t an option. “You’re wearing a tie. You fixed your hair. You bought Liam half of Harrod’s.” Louis hated when Harry did this. It was great having him as one of his best friends, but Harry had a stupidly easy knack of getting to the bottom of things too quickly for someone who talked slower than any other creature on the planet. 

“It’s not half of Harrod’s, _Harold_. I just couldn’t decide so I got him everything I saw that looked like him.” It was actually a collection of completely random things, including toys he’d found at the toy store he bought the girls’ gifts at. “What’s in the box?” Louis could deflect with the best of them and Harry was holding a square shaped box in his hand. 

“We don’t do Christmas though and you two changed it without us. I can’t see you passing up a chance to get birthday and Christmas presents from everyone. Which means the Liam thing is special.” 

“Please stop talking, Harry. Or tell me about the box.” Louis stepped forward, trying to get his hands on the box. Harry was avoiding talking about himself as well and, if it came down to it, Louis could deflect with the best of them. They could volley avoidance back and forth for hours if they had to. Harry, for all his limbs that went on for days, was shockingly agile and moved the box out of Louis' grasp, holding it too high for him to reach. 

"Tell me about Liam." Harry was being a brat and Louis made a half hearted swipe at the box, but he wasn't about to jump about to get it. He was above that. Of course, he missed the days when his best friend wasn’t the size of a giraffe and that trick didn’t work.

"There's nothing to tell." Louis shoved his hands in his back pockets, wishing his jeans weren't so tight that he couldn't use the front pockets. It felt obnoxious to hold on to his own ass. 

"Liar. What changed?" Louis didn't make eye contact with Harry which just gave away more than saying anything. "You told him!"

Louis grumbled and wandered away from Harry, sure he'd need a drink to get through this conversation. Harry wasn't even supposed to be here this early and if he didn't get lost, he'd ruin the pre-party meet up that Louis and Liam had planned. "I didn't really tell him as much as..." He headed right for the fridge, but hesitated before pulling out the beer he thought he wanted. 

"As you grabbed him and kissed him and demanded he realize the reason you two are both single is because you're in love!" Harry sounded stupidly excited and Louis had to take a deep breath before he spoke again. 

"No. Not that either. We just...realized something needed to change." Something huge actually.

That Louis’ girlfriend had left him by moving her stuff out of his house after a rocky break between tours hadn’t surprised Louis. He’d tried, she’d tried, and it just wasn’t getting better. It happened. What had surprised Louis was Liam getting dumped three-quarters of the way through tour. He’d thought that was a forever thing and, judging by the way Liam took the news, so had he. 

They’d had an informal band meeting about it a night later, all huddled together on Bus 1. Liam had been curled close to Louis under the guise of letting Louis help him beat Zayn at FIFA, but Louis had a guess that he just didn’t want to be alone. There was a strong possibility that Liam was going to wind up crashing on the bus as well instead of his empty hotel room. Of course everyone looked at Louis to bring it up, hitting pause on the game to look at Liam, then the group, before asking if they should change the line up to drop the song Liam had written for his ex, but Liam was adamant. It was a good song, he was keeping it. 

After two shows of singing it though, it was clear Liam was struggling. Louis had broken what little choreography they had the third night and left his side of the stage for Liam’s as Liam went into the second verse. He moved into Liam’s view, not letting him look at the fans or anyone but Louis, and Liam went with it, singing the words right to Louis. It didn’t help either that Liam couldn’t sing without moving his hands and wound up pointing at Louis at all the right moments, including ‘I’m all that you need tonight’ which sent the fans into an uproar. Normally Louis would have broken away for his part, but he physically couldn’t, and he wound up singing a little too heartfelt of an echoing promise, one hand on his chest because his heart was actually aching with the effort. By the time Louis was singing that falling for him wouldn’t be a mistake he knew full well he wasn’t just singing lyrics to a song and Liam had dropped off his harmonizing vocals. Liam never missed his parts, but he did then, staring at Louis. Louis thought he’d imagined it, but it was online by the time the show was done, all over tumblr and YouTube, Liam staring at him like everything had changed. 

And it had changed everything. Liam was there moments later as the song finished, hand pressed hard against Louis’ lower back which he knew was gross and sweaty, and leaning in, looking like he was whispering something but really he was just resting his forehead against Louis’ temple for a moment. Someone had snagged a great shot of that and Louis may or may not have stored the picture on his phone. After that, Louis stayed on that side of the stage when they sang the song, either singing at Liam or with Liam’s arm wrapped around his shoulders like they used to do many tours ago. Liam didn’t pull away from their off-stage handsy relationship either, though Louis could see his mind turning over every touch he went for. They were still the same touches, but they felt more charged than before. It was Louis that had suggested Christmas, actually doing something this year, just them. He’d seen the tease on the tip of Liam’s tongue because he’d trained Liam so damn well, but then Liam had bit it back and agreed. 

“So you’re going to change it?” Harry asked, trailing after Louis into the kitchen and vocalizing the thought and intention Louis had had for over a week.

“How do I get you out of my house?” Louis asked instead of answering and to keep Harry from asking more questions about what had happened. He couldn’t even properly explain it, he just knew when it happened. The most Harry knew about in regards to Liam was what Louis had been feeling for the better part of a year because while Louis hadn’t told Liam he’d had to tell _someone_. Louis didn’t want to go into how it had changed from a thing Louis was feeling to a thing that needed to be sorted properly, not with Harry at least. The person Louis usually went to to sort his head out was Liam and that wouldn’t work. Harry was a great best friend, the kind that always backed your play and believed in you even at the most ridiculous of times, but Louis had learned a long time ago that Harry’s quasi-zen yoga nonsense advice usually left Louis more confused than he’d been at the start. Liam on the other hand, had a lovely way of seeing the thing Louis danced around with an adorably confused honesty. It was what Louis needed, but he had a feeling that trying to sort himself out with Liam came with more implications since this current issue was Liam. 

“Aren’t you hosting a party I’m invited to tonight?” Harry asked, rooting through drawers in the kitchen that Louis hadn’t ever opened and didn’t realize had anything in them. He’d barely been home over the past few years and, now that he was living in the house alone, he’d only worried about where to find a fork or spoon and where the tea and mugs were. 

“I am, but that’s not for three hours. Go away and come back.” Louis abandoned the fridge and flicked on the kettle instead because what the hell else was he going to do with himself? And tea did usually make him feel better. 

“Why?” Harry pulled out a box of tinfoil with a giant grin as if he’d found buried treasure in Louis’ kitchen drawers. Louis didn’t even know he had tinfoil. 

“Because. You’re stupidly early and you’ll miss your usual fashionably late entrance if you don’t leave.” Louis moved around the parts of the kitchen he knew, getting a mug, a teabag, and milk. He made a point of not taking out a second mug for Harry, not that Harry drank tea properly like he should, but Louis assumed the message was clear. He was not invited to stay or use the weird coffee machine thing that Harry had bought him so that Louis had coffee in his house for the freak coffee drinkers he was unfortunately friends with. 

The message would have been clearer if Harry hadn’t set up shop at the small kitchen table, wrapping up the box he’d brought with him in tinfoil, tongue between his teeth while he concentrated. “Or is it because Liam’s coming over early?” 

Louis almost dropped his mug, but managed not to and forced a casual, but not really casual, shrug at the suggestion. Damn Harry for being observant. Who said that was okay? He poured water into his mug with a tense grip on the kettle and changed the subject. “Who’s that for?” he asked, pointing to the box instead.

“Grimmy.” 

Louis groaned loudly, holding his head. “You’re not. Tell me you’re not.” 

“Not yet, but soon. Maybe.” Harry just smiled and tried to mold the tinfoil around the box more, but now it was starting to look more like a silver creature than a box. 

“Why?” Louis whined. He couldn’t stand Grimshaw. It was like being in a room with himself, just massively gay and full of stupid hair. (Of course with how things were with Liam, there was a chance for being massively gay being something they had in common, but that was _Liam_ and by default, completely and one hundred percent different.)

“Because he’s like you. And he makes me laugh,” Harry explained adding wings to the tinfoil critter. 

“He’s _nothing_ like me,” Louis insisted, even though he was aware of the inaccuracies of that statement. “What the hell are you making?” 

“Liar. It’s a swan.” Harry added even more tinfoil and rolled his eyes as if Louis was the ridiculous one and he wasn’t trying to make a swan out of tinfoil around a box that held some sort of gift for Grimshaw. 

“Looks more like an octopus with wings,” Louis countered out of spite, then sipped at his tea to try and contain his annoyance over Grimshaw and being the ridiculous one in the room. “What did you get him if you’re so not a thing? Which I still think is a bad idea, for the record. You and Taylor being a thing again makes more sense.” It didn’t actually. Everyone said nice things about her because it was easier and yeah Harry sometimes seemed a little more heartbroken over it than he should be, but her songs got on Louis’ nerves and he hated that she’d so obviously plastered her relationship with Harry out there, opening the door for people to criticize and judge Harry all over again. Criticizing Harry was something Louis couldn’t stand, especially when he couldn’t do much about it beyond calling in Niall as public reinforcements. 

“We are never, ever-” 

“Don’t.” 

Harry chuckled and shrugged. “I’m older now. Grimmy isn’t as bad an idea as he was.” 

Louis grunted, mostly because the tea wasn’t working to calm his nerves or make the idea of Harry dating Grimshaw go away. “When are you leaving again?” he asked instead. Liam would be here any minute and the last thing that Louis wanted was Harry seeing Liam. Harry would say something or make some face and it might ruin the fragile little half balance Liam and Louis had at the moment. 

Harry shrugged again. “Now. It’s done. Can I leave it under your tree?” He held the tinfoil lifeform out to Louis. 

“What? You’re bringing him to _my_ birthday party?” 

“Holiday party,” Harry corrected. “And yes. You said I could bring someone.” 

“I assumed you knew I didn’t mean _him_.” 

“Well I don’t have to,” Harry drawled tapping his chin like he was thinking, but there was mischief glittering in those green eyes. “I could just stay here..” 

Louis groaned, took the tinfoil monster and pushed Harry towards the door. Why did he convince his entire band to be trouble? They weren’t supposed to turn their powers against him “No. Leave. Go.” A few hours putting up with Grimshaw’s stupid hair and stupid sense of humor was better than Harry ruining things with Liam. 

Harry laughed, but thankfully took his hipster ass out of Louis’ house, leaving Louis alone with Grimshaw’s weird tinfoil monstrosity-gift thing that he was going to have nightmares about He took it to the tree nonetheless, trying to find somewhere to put it so that no one would see it right away. The front door of the house opened as he was moving a box for one of the twins to cover the thing and Louis’ rolled his eyes. “I said go away!” 

“I thought you told me to get here early.” 

Louis dropped the tinfoil gift of meaning and doom, spinning around and almost falling over at the sight of Liam. That was a new thing that was happening lately, being blown away by just _him_ and his presence. At the same time, it wasn’t like anything had changed with Liam. Liam had always been gorgeous. Even the ‘needs to get the stick out of his arse and the frown off his face’ Liam with his ridiculous hair had been gorgeous. Over the years Louis had gotten used to it, only surprised by new hairstyles or fancy dress clothes, and the occasional post-break Liam who apparently spent the whole time at the gym. Louis had become immune to the awkward smolder, able to laugh at it and tease his best friend about it. Now looking at Liam made Louis’ knees weak like it had ages ago when Louis first met him. “I have loved you since we were eighteen” ran through his head and Louis made a mental note to smack Ed later that night. The redhead had grinned and clapped Louis on the shoulder after they’d listened to the original demo and Zayn had asked about the lyrics. “Lou’ll get it.” 

Damn Ed. Louis hadn’t even figured it out and Ed had written a damn song about it. “No, no, no,” Louis told Liam, shaking his head. “Haz. He was getting in the way wrapping a gift for Grimmy.” 

Liam’s perfect, stupid face squished up in an adorable smile that never used to make Louis want to touch him so badly. “Aww, he got Nick something?” 

“Don’t awww. Nick’s gross.” Louis rolled his eyes which helped with the weak knees bit. It was easier to keep his wits about him when he was being himself and not the lovesick version of himself. Of course it wasn’t helping that Liam managed to look effortlessly stunning in skinny jeans and a button down. He’d cut his hair off again because apparently that was what Liam Payne did when he went through major relationship changes. It had been growing back over the past couple of months, but it was still the short intense look, not the softer more comfortable longer look Liam fell into when he was relaxed in his relationships. Louis had always liked his curls, but the short-haired Liam looked older and short-haired Liam starred in some of Louis’ favorite memories. 

“I dunno,” Liam said thoughtfully. “He’s a bit like you.” He shifted on his feet, moving the shopping bag he was carrying from one hand to the other. 

Louis scoffed, but bounced closer to Liam, going with too much energy when Liam started to look nervous. “I’m much better and there’s no one else like me.” 

Liam laughed a little and nodded, not pulling away when Louis tugged him more into the living room and towards the couch. “Very true. You are one of a kind, Tommo.” 

“Exactly.” Louis liked that. He sat Liam on the couch, then jumped up to go back to the tree and pick up the first few presents, setting them on the coffee table in front of Liam. 

“What’s this?” Liam asked after Louis went back for more boxes. 

Louis looked his shoulder and shrugged. “Christmas. Here, these too.” There was one more smaller box still under the tree, but Louis wasn’t sure if it was too much or not yet. 

“I thought these were Ernie's!” 

Louis shook his head, sitting next to Liam but not able to keep his knee from bouncing with nervous energy. “These are all yours.” 

Liam frowned, then looked down at the bag at his feet. “Well, here.” He pulled out a standard looking box, wrapped in One Direction wrapping paper, and set it on Louis’ lap. “That’s happy birthday, because I knew not to get you Christmas and skip that.” Louis wanted to complain and say he wasn’t that shallow, but he knew he was. Instead he nudged one of the boxes closer to Liam. 

He made a point of not ripping Liam’s face as he opened his gift, watching Liam out of the corner of his eye carefully open his own. Liam grinned at the box once it was revealed, a huge Marvel Lego set that Louis thought was awesome and figured only Liam or Zayn had the patience to put together. He was so distracted by Liam’s smile, watching him flip the box over to read the back that he actually forgot about the present in his lap until Liam nudged his knee. 

“Oh. Right.” That rarely happened. Usually Louis never ignored gifts. He loved gifts, but apparently watching Liam light up was more distracting than opening his own present. He flipped the top off the box, smiling immediately. The England football team jacket was perfect, a style he hadn’t seen before, in dark navy instead of the usual white. Louis actually preferred the darker color because white things never lasted long before tea or worse stains on them when in a band prone to boy piles.

“Had to call in a favor,” Liam explained. “But that’s what they’re wearing for training for the Euro qualifiers next year.” Liam looked proud of himself for finding it, smiling at Louis brightly. “They teased me when I asked for it, that it might not come in such a small size.” 

Louis gave Liam a look, but Liam just laughed. “It’s a good small, Lou,” he reassured and Louis had no idea why but the comment made him blush furiously, ducking his head and running his fingers over the jacket. “There’s more in there,” Liam added, nudging at Louis’ knee again before reaching for his second present. Louis frowned at the box then picked up the England jacket, thinking about putting it on right away until he realized what was under it. Liam had stopped opening the present he was working on and Louis could feel his eyes on him, but Louis couldn’t look away from what was hidden in the bottom of the box. 

The worn gray material was familiar, so familiar, same with the faded white lettering across it. Liam had had it since his hair was straight and Louis immediately set aside the football jacket reaching instead for the worn-in hoodie that was so much more important. For the first time in his life when it came to this hoodie, he hesitated, then pulled it out of the box, frowning up at Liam. Liam, whose cheeks were pinking lightly and was rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “You always steal it. You have for _years_. I’ve lost most of the stuff from then or gotten rid of it, but I can’t get rid of that. Not when I know you’ll take it when you come over. But you’ve never really taken it.” 

Louis knew what Liam meant by that. He did have a nasty habit, just like the rest of them did, of stealing Liam’s clothes and claiming them as his own. The green hoodie he’d been papped in too many times now was actually Liam’s, Liam just never got around to wearing it. It was why it was two sizes too big, but no one complained and Louis loved it. This hoodie was different though. He’d always loved it, but Liam lived in it during the early years. There were photos of him wearing it and as much as Louis liked it, he wouldn’t let himself take it. The last thing the world needed was a comparison of them in the same clothes in the papers. There were enough of those already.

The thing was, Louis had clear idea of when he would let himself wear it and when he wouldn’t. He stole the hoodie in front of him regularly, but no matter how hungover he was or how comfortable it was, he never wore it out of Liam’s house. He didn’t even wear it on the balcony. No, it was strictly a ‘at Liam’s house with tea’ type of hoodie. Liam still wore it too, but it was almost always washed and folded back in the same place every time that Louis went looking for it. “Li…” 

“I know you have rules. It’s mine, not yours and you don’t want to be seen in it, but…” Liam trailed off in a clear hesitation and Louis waited, letting Liam put his words together like he needed to sometimes. It was only a minute before Liam was taking a deep breath and starting again. “I want you to be seen in it. I like you in it.”

Louis hadn’t really mentioned the rules, but it was no surprise that Liam knew about them. Liam knew him like that, better than he knew himself sometimes. “Oh.” Louis gathered up the hoodie in his fingers, holding it close for a moment, breathing in the lingering smell of Liam. He was half lost in his thoughts when Liam touched his jaw, guiding his eyes up to get Louis to look at him. 

“That okay?”

“Yeah,” Louis said, but his voice betrayed him going quieter than he would have liked and he cleared his throat, sitting up more and pushing at Liam’s presents. “You have a ton to go, Payno. We don’t have all night.” 

Liam looked at the table and the stack of presents and frowned. “Did you buy half of Harrod’s?” 

Louis rolled his eyes. “Have none of you been to Harrod’s? It’s three floors. You would notice if I’d bought half of it. Half of it wouldn’t fit in the door. Open this.” He handed Liam another box, hoodie still in his lap but sitting closer to Liam while Liam opened his gifts. There was a sweater that looked so Liam that Louis had almost bought it in two colors, another Avengers Lego set so he had one with Spiderman too, a couple of video games, another shirt that looked like him and a scarf that was softer than anything Louis had ever held before. Liam looked pleased with all of them, but once he was done, Louis knew he needed to get the last gift. He went back to the tree, hoodie in one hand like a security blanket and grabbed the last box. He held it for a moment then turned, handing it to Liam just as Liam held another box out to him. 

“What’s that?” Louis asked, trying not to get nervous at the fact that Liam hadn’t taken the gift in his hand yet.

“Christmas.” Liam took his box then replaced it with the one he brought Louis and patted the couch next to him so Louis would sit. Louis fell into the place next to Liam holding up the hoodie. 

“I thought this was…” 

“Birthday.” Liam pointed to the smaller flat box in Louis’ hand. “Christmas.” He held up the box that Louis had given him. “What’s this?” 

“The real gift,” Louis said before thinking about it. There was something unnerving about admitting the truth to Liam like that but he forced himself not to dwell. 

“The rest were real gifts,” Liam pointed out, but he tore at the paper anyway. There wasn’t much surprise at the shape and the size of the box once Liam had the paper off of it. Liam had to have seen plenty of them over the years, one for each part of his collection. Louis usually just made fun of him for his silly collection, but he knew the meaning behind them and the meaning behind adding to it without permission. Liam opened the box and Louis forced himself not to hold his breath. 

The watch inside wasn’t nearly as nice or expensive as some of the other watches Liam had, but that hadn’t been what Louis was going for. Still, Liam looked pleased, taking it out and turning it over in his hands before reaching to undo the one he was wearing and replace it. “This is great, Lou,” he said with a grin. 

“I know they all mean something,” Louis said, taking the new watch so he could slip it on Liam’s wrist. 

“And this one is Christmas with you,” Liam supplied with a smile. Louis shook his head then snapped the clasp closed on the watch. 

“That, but that’s not what I meant. I was thinking...something new. Something different...with us.” Louis didn’t usually stumble over words like that, but faced with telling Liam everything he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. “It doesn’t need a battery,” he explained. "If you wear it, it’ll stay charged. And it’s linked to satellites or summat and it’ll always be on the right time. So you’ll never have to replace it.” And wow did that metaphor sound so damn stupid outloud. 

Liam looked at the watch, then Louis, then tapped the box in Louis’ hands. “Open that.” 

That was hardly an answer or a response, but Louis looked down at the gift, pulling off the paper and tossing it away. When he opened the box he frowned, not sure what to make of the simple chain with a tiny key charm on it. 

“I know you’re not much for jewelry,” Liam explained, picking the chain up out of the box then holding it up before undoing the clasp and putting it on Louis. “But I thought you needed this.” Liam leaned back, smiling at Louis. 

Louis held the charm up to inspect it, a tiny little key, nothing fancy, nothing complicated, but it didn’t make any more sense. “Why do I need it?” he asked finally, looking up at Liam who just smiled more. 

“Key to my heart, Louis,” he breathed softly. “You’ve always had it. Even before...always you.” Oh. So that was what it meant. “It won’t stop running?” Liam asked about the watch. 

Louis shook his head slowly. “Not if you don’t shut it away in a drawer or something.” 

“I couldn’t do that. It’s too nice a thing to keep locked away.” Ohhh. Liam just couldn’t say things like that and expect Louis to know how to do anything other than melt into the floor. “Lou...can I..” Liam was leaning in and Louis knew exactly what was coming next. His stomach flipped over three times at the sheer possibility alone.

“Uh huh,” Louis murmured, barely real words, but he hardly mattered because Liam had his hand on his cheek then his mouth on his mouth and words and talking seemed like a really, _really_ stupid use of his mouth and tongue when he could be kissing Liam. 

Louis had wondered for a long while what Liam kissed like. He’d seen him do it before, years of being friends with someone and his girlfriends meant exposure to it, but seeing it and feeling it were two very different things. It turned out, Liam kissed just like he did everything else: thoroughly and completely. He kissed like he sang, unafraid and uninhibited, so unlike his normal demeanor which, even after all these years and Louis’ poking and prodding, could still be _shy_. But the kiss was anything but, the hand on Louis’ cheek was sure, the way he licked into Louis’ mouth was confident and left Louis wondering if Liam had kissed another boy before. Up until two seconds before that would have been shocking, but after experiencing the way Liam kissed, it seemed far more reasonable. 

Liam drew the kiss out before pulling back, staying close, his breath still ghosting across Louis’ lips. “It changes everything, doesn’t it?” he asked softly, thumb stroking Louis’ cheekbone. 

“Not everything,” Louis promised, pressing in closer to Liam. “We were always like this, now there’s just an added side to it. If you want.” 

“We were always like this, weren’t we?” Liam dropped his hand from Louis’ cheek to the key hanging around his neck. “I know I have been since the first moment I saw you.” 

Louis rolled his eyes. “Since we were eighteen. I _hate_ Ed.” He reached for Liam’s hand instead, not asking about how Liam had wanted him then, when he seemed like he hated Louis. That wasn’t important in the moment and he knew Liam. It would come out eventually. 

Liam laughed, twisting his fingers so that his were laced with Louis. “I did wonder why he thought _you_ would get the song and not Harry or Zayn.” 

“He’s a jerk. I’m punching him tonight.” Louis sounded petulant, but the fact that he cuddled in closer to Liam gave away how he was really feeling.

“I’ll probably hug him for it. And make sure we keep that song on the next tour.” Fans loved the older ballads, but Louis liked knowing Liam was willing to give up “Little Things” to keep the new song. 

Louis pressed his cheek against Liam’s shoulder, smiling softly to himself for a moment before what Liam was saying sank in and he had to look up at him. “You want this then? Something different.” 

Liam looked down at him, then away, obviously thinking about what Louis had asked. Louis wasn’t exactly the most patient person, but he knew Liam inside and out and knew he had to wait out whatever it was Liam was thinking. “Something great maybe?” Liam smirked a little with the obvious pun, and Louis pushed at him with his free hand. 

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“Hasn’t stopped you from loving me.” Liam said it so plainly, as if it was so obvious and Louis couldn’t help but look up at him in surprise. 

“I do,” he admitted softly, knowing full well he hadn’t said it like _that_ before. “I really do.” 

Liam drug his thumb along Louis’ jaw then kissed him again, lighter than before, but it still managed to suck the air out of Louis’ lungs. He wondered if that would be a thing, casual kisses mid-conversation. If they could just make it a thing. “I know. I’ve known for a while, I think. Love you too. Which I also think I’ve known for a while.” 

“Funny how we knew but neither one of us got around to saying something.” Louis got why that was, but it did seem like a whole host of wasted time that could have been spent kissing Liam. Even now felt like wasted time that could be spent kissing Liam, so he went for that kissing him hard again. 

Liam drew the kiss out, taking control of it even though Louis had initiated it and smiled when he pulled back. “I thought about it a lot when it made the list of reasons I got dumped,” he murmured, fingers still stroking Louis’ jaw and cheek with a look of awe in his eyes.

“You got dumped because…” 

“Because she could tell I was in love with someone else.” Liam kissed Louis again, but Louis couldn’t fight the wide-eyed look. 

“Why didn’t you tell me!” 

“Because there was no way you felt the same way. Nothing changed between us over the years and I knew it was all in my head until you started singing and the way you were looking at me…” 

“You knew. I knew. I could tell you figured it out.” 

Liam nodded. “I almost told you right there on stage, but I realized it might be too much too soon and then there was tour and it seemed better to wait. So I waited. And now I don’t have to anymore.” 

Louis kissed him again, turning on the couch to half crawl into Liam’s lap and Liam went with it, just catching Louis around the waist to hold him close and answer every kiss Louis gave him. They stayed like that well over an hour, lazily kissing and laughing at moments on tour that had seemed liked nothing, but apparently meant so much to both of them. Normally Louis would have been rushed to undress the person he was with, needing to push things to the next level to get the thrill out of the moment, but apparently that wasn’t the case with Liam. He didn’t need to get Liam undressed and over him to get caught up in the moment. He wanted it, that much was definitely true, but he didn’t need it. Kissing Liam on the couch for the better part of an hour was enough to leave him out of breath and completely lost in just the simple act. Sure, they could have tried to squeeze in a quick shag, but Louis decided the moment Liam got his hands in his hair, messing up whatever effort he’d put into it, a quick shag was doing Liam a disservice. Louis could definitely wait and settle for the way Liam was leaving an all too obvious love bite on his neck that his shirt collar would only half cover. Payback, apparently. 

It was Liam that stopped them half an hour before people were due to arrive, despite Louis’ protests. Louis suddenly wasn’t as worried that people might walk in on them half sprawled across his couch, but Liam sheepishly pointed out that he’d made a right mess of Louis’ hair and it didn’t even look like the artfully messy style Louis had taken to doing with it. Louis only gave in to fix it if Liam promised to stay after the party. Liam had rolled his eyes and kissed Louis again. “As if I’d go anywhere else.” 

They hadn’t discussed how they were going to behave at the party yet, but Louis tried not to focus on that as he fixed his hair and debated about covering up the mark Liam had left on his neck. When the doorbell rang he opted to let it be, bounding back down the stairs to see where Liam had let in the caterers dropping off food for the party. Louis wasn’t snobby enough to hire an entire staff to work the party or remotely close to interested in the vetting process it would require, but he knew better than to host a foodless party or ask his friends to bring things. If there wasn’t food, Niall might very well perish and would definitely order pizzas, and if he asked them to bring things, it would be a terrible collection of inedible things or random takeaway boxes of food that shouldn’t be brought to a party.They’d all grown up, but most of his friends lived on tour and were shit at being proper adult party-attending adults. 

Louis was going to ask Liam how they were handling the night the moment the caterers had left and they were alone again, but the alone time only lasted long enough for him to get Liam a beer and open his mouth to address it. Then the bell to the door was going off again and the most Louis got was a brief kiss before he had to play host. 

The house filled up quickly, giving it a warm and cozy feeling it hadn’t had since Louis had gotten back from tour. Mostly it had felt empty and lonely, but now that Louis was surrounded by everyone he knew and liked (and a couple of people he didn’t like once Grimshaw showed up), it didn’t quite feel like the house was lonely as much as he’d been. Louis had wanted to stick close to Liam, but that was nearly impossible in a crowd that was half friends from London that they only saw briefly on breaks, or their crew that they’d already gone into withdrawal from not seeing every day. He knew where Liam was most of the time, able to see him through the crowd, or pick out his laugh here and there, but they still weren’t in the same spaces. 

A giggling Harry caught him by the arm just when he was about to go _find_ Liam and invade his personal space, handing him a cup of something stronger than he’d been drinking all night and dragging him towards the living room. “Where’s Grimmy’s gift?” he whispered, but considering Harry was already drunk it was more of a raspy shout, right in Louis’ ear. 

“Burned it in the fireplace right after you left,” Louis told him, best fake sad voice he could muster. Harry looked appalled, drunk enough to believe Louis apparently and Louis had to shake his head. “It’s under the tree.” 

That got Harry to hurry up to where he’d apparently left Grimshaw, standing awkwardly by the tree like he didn’t know every fucking person in the room. His hair was all poofed up over his head like it always was and he was definitely wearing an ugly Christmas jumper, though that was not on the outfit requirements for the party, and had dyed his hair some ridiculous red color. It distantly made Louis miss the week he’d dyed his hair bright red (and the absolute fit it had thrown lady Lou into), but he pushed that way and retrieved Grimshaw’s gift from where he’d hidden it behind gifts for his siblings. 

Harry carefully picked up his tinfoil monstrosity and held it out to Grimshaw who won just a few points back from his negative one million standing by looking completely and utterly confused at the wrapping job. He got even more points (though not enough to move into the positive, obviously) when he looked at Louis, like Louis might hold the answers to why he was being given such an odd looking gift. Louis just shrugged and took a large gulp of his drink. 

He watched as Nick tentatively pulled at the tinfoil, seemingly not wanting to ruin Harry’s work. Just as Louis was starting to get bored, Grimshaw made it to the box hidden under the tinfoil and opened it up. Louis could see the nervous twinge that went across Harry’s shoulders, the silk shirt that probably wasn’t even his doing little to hide and it, and realized why Harry was so drunk. Instantly Louis wanted to insert himself into the conversation, to press his hands against the tension in Harry’s shoulders and warn Grimshaw loudly that upsetting Harry was against the rules and he had no right to do as much, but Nick was already looking at the gift Harry had so painfully wrapped with his mouth hanging slightly open. 

“Haz…” 

Louis balled his hand into a fist, ready to react because Nick Fucking Grimshaw was not about to turn Harry down or make Harry feel bad and, sure, Louis hadn’t been given the right to hit any of Harry’s other exes, but he was sure as hell going to hit this one. He’d even taken a step forward, planting his back foot like Liam had taught him ready to swing when Nick spoke again. 

“You’re serious about this?” Nick looked bewildered, but not upset, just confused and maybe a little pleased. Maybe. 

“Uh huh.” Harry was already jumping forward to take the gift out of the box, a necklace with a small star charm on it, and loop it over Nick’s head. Louis made a face as he realized what it was, eyes cutting to the new necklace Harry had added to his stupid collection of them, the one shaped like an American dog tag with a star punched out of it and ‘you’re my star’ written on it. It hung so it was visible in every stupid half buttoned shirt he wore. He’d been papped in it a million times, and the entire internet had speculated what it meant. Most had assumed it had something to do with Louis (as they always did), but now here was Harry giving Grimshaw the damn star. 

It was so romantic Louis considered throwing up on his nice white carpet. 

Grimshaw was grinning his stupid grin that he only had for Harry, eyes lighting up as he moved into Harry’s space, fingering the matching necklace around Harry’s neck. If they started making out Louis was definitely going to throw up on his floors and then Liam would have to clean them. And, sure, he had the chain with the key on it buried under his shirts, hidden from everyone, but at least he was fucking discreet about being a total sap. They were whispering sweet things to one another and Louis had had plenty of that. If Liam was going to stand on the other side of the room from him all night then Harry wasn’t going to start snogging Grimshaw by Louis’ Christmas tree. Snogging by his Christmas tree was strictly something only Louis was allowed to do. 

“Oi! You! Stop.” Louis lunged himself into the space between them, ignoring the way Grimshaw seemed both terrified and stupidly enamored by Harry and how it made him wonder if maybe Harry was right, that it was less of a bad idea. “No snogging by my tree. House rule. You’re defiling the sanctity of Christmas and my birthday. And my living room.” 

Grimshaw raised an eyebrow at that, reaching one of his stupidly long fingers to pull at Louis’ collar that he’d undone the top button for after loosening his tie somewhere around beer four. “Looks like you did enough defiling of your house on your own earlier,” he teased, poking at the love bite, which had started to turn purple because apparently Liam was a fucking champ at everything and Louis swatted at Grimshaw’s hands. 

“Shoo. No one asked you for your opinion.” 

“Wait, what is that? Is that from-” Harry started, but Louis elbowed him in the stomach. 

“I can’t believe you started Necklace Gate all over again,” he chastised instead. “We talked about Taylor things.” 

“At least this one doesn’t match one of your stupid tattoos,” Grimshaw pointed out, smiling at Harry and reaching over Louis to cup his cheek. Over Louis. Damn tall people. “I think it’s sweet though.” Louis swatted at both of them, mostly out of principle for being tall and disgusting, but he did have to agree with Grimshaw there. Giving Taylor the paper airplane necklace and Louis having a paper airplane tattoo had been a criminal offense. 

Louis made a gagging noise to disperse the cute. “It’s not like you two don’t go walking around in each other’s clothes all the bloody time. It shouldn’t be that different.” 

Grimshaw raised an eyebrow and laughed. “If that was all it took, you and Liam would have been together for years.” 

Harry laughed at that, but Louis’ blood went cold thinking of the hoodie that was currently hanging off his chair upstairs, the one Liam wanted Louis to be seen in, and he forgot the words to whatever scathing retort he might have had. Damn Grimshaw. And damn them for seeming a hell of a lot more like Louis and Liam than Louis wanted them to. 

“Ugh whatever. Shut up.” Louis sounded more petulant than scathing. “No more of your grossness. Give me Haz. You can’t have him anymore because you’ll defile my living room and I refuse to see that. Come on, Haz.” Louis fixed his arms around Harry’s and drug him away from Grimshaw, towards Niall. 

They only got about halfway there before Niall was turning up the speakers on Louis’ stereo system. It was currently playing some sort of Christmas music (though he had no idea who had set it up) and, when the version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” they’d helped record started playing, Harry took over dragging. The three of them launched into a drunken sing-along version of the song, which was going quite splendidly if anyone asked Louis, at least until the second verse when they stumbled over the words, frowning at one another then arguing over what they should be. 

“Didn’t you record this song?” Grimshaw asked from his amused perch at Harry’s elbow. 

“Well yes, but only part of it,” Harry supplied. 

“And not like anyone listens to this one regularly,” Niall added. “It’s a bit sad.” 

“Don’t let Bono hear you say that,” Louis warned. “He might have to take those glasses off and throw down.” 

“I think I can take Bono. He’s like sixty.” 

“Yeah, well, your knees are like eighty, so I dunno.” 

“Mocking the cripple now, are ya?” 

“Yeah, Tiny Tim! I am!” 

“Who you calling tiny, short stuff?” 

That was enough to get Harry laughing, which meant Louis and Niall were laughing as well, and Louis was clapping Niall on the back a little harder than necessary. “Well done, Nialler. I knew you had it in you.” 

Niall went for a pinch, but Louis dodged it, glad he did since “All I Want for Christmas is You” came up next and Harry immediately started singing it right to Grimshaw and Louis was pretty sure he was going to throw up on his carpet from how cute it was or how jealous he was. Hopefully it was just the first, but he needed to find Liam just to be sure. 

He didn’t think it was a jealous thing really, not even before, but when Harry leaned in and pressed a tiny kiss against the corner of Grimshaw’s mouth Louis was pretty sure that was exactly what it was. He had the key to Liam’s fucking heart around his neck and no one knew. He’d barely even _seen_ Liam tonight and yes, it was nice that it was their little secret, something fun to be happy about, but who in the room besides Grimshaw did Louis not trust? Why would he have to be a secret here? Why wasn’t it as obvious as the mark on his neck? 

The thought alone got him into a drunken half-rage at everyone for being so oblivious. Couldn’t they tell everything had changed? Couldn’t they see he was in love with Liam and Liam was in love with him? He was wobbling a bit as he made his way back towards where he’d seen Liam last, stumbling up the single step out of his living room headed towards his kitchen. Why had he picked a living room with a sunken floor? What was wrong with him and putting trip hazards into his house? He didn’t stumble far though, something caught him and one glance at his arm said it wasn’t something but someone and Louis felt that warmth that made everything better flood through his body radiating out from the hand wrapped around his elbow. Liam. 

“Careful there, Lou.” Liam was smiling at him, that adorable wonderful perfect smile that Louis loved so much. “Bit too much?” 

Louis shook his head, normally not okay with being a step below Liam, but it was kind of nice to really look up at him. It made that ‘good small’ comment from earlier make all the more sense. “Just enough.” 

Liam laughed and shook his head, taking a step back to help Louis up the step when Harry shouted at him. 

“Lou! Mistletoe!” 

Louis looked back at Harry, who had his arms wrapped around Grimshaw’s shoulders, frowning. There wasn’t mistletoe. He wouldn’t hang that nonsense in his house. Harry laughed and pointed up above Louis’ head. Louis had to turn back around and there it was, hanging in the arch of the doorway, right over Liam’s head. 

“I didn’t put up mistletoe.” He hated mistletoe. It was a nice idea in stories and movies, but mostly it was either ignored or treated like some sort of painful obligation. Frankly, Louis only wanted to be kissed by people that wanted to kiss him. 

“I think Harry did it himself,” Liam said looking up at the sprig of green and white. 

“Cheater.” Apparently that was enough to make Liam laugh again, though why, Louis had no idea. 

“I’m not complaining,” Liam said with a slightly wicked grin that Louis was sure he’d taught him, but the context seemed out of place. Louis was going to ask about it, but before he could the hand that had been on his elbow wound up on his waist and Liam’s other hand was curled around the back of his neck, dragging Louis in for a proper kiss. Louis just barely got his hands on Liam before Liam lifted him up the step to get him closer and the cheers started. Liam didn’t drag the kiss on too long once people started cheering, but when he pulled back Louis chased his mouth stealing another tiny kiss before really breaking away. Louis could feel his cheeks going pink in an uncharacteristic blush and was already ready to blame that on the alcohol, but there was no way anyone would believe him. 

“ _Finally_ ,” Harry hollered before bounding into them, wrapping them both up in a giant bear hug. “I was ready to stage a hunger strike or a sit-in.” 

“You tried a sit-in today and I threw you out,” Louis reminded him, pushing at Harry so he could see Liam’s face. Liam, who wasn’t blushing, but looked damn proud of himself for kissing a boy in public. For kissing Louis in public. 

“It worked though, didn’t it?” 

Before Louis could say anything else, someone hit him from behind, Zayn by the smell of cigarettes and then Niall was climbing Harry and the only reason they were still upright was because Liam was a steady force as always. Louis’ steady force. He managed to get untangled enough from Harry to wrap his arms around Liam’s middle, pressing his face into Liam’s neck. “Love you, Li,” he mumbled, not sure if Liam could hear him under the din of their cheering best friends or Grimshaw yelling something about winning a bet, but Louis heard the happy chuckle in Liam’s voice as he whispered back.

“Love you too, Lou.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh! I realized, important points of reference. 
> 
> This is the [awkward smolder](http://dudski.tumblr.com/post/109362383785/liam-payne-aka-fucking-tease) Louis mentions (mostly it's the face that Liam makes that's half uncomfortable half model-like).
> 
> And [This](http://images.sugarscape.com/userfiles/image/DECEMBER2010/Lozza/liampayne.jpg) is Louis' gift.


End file.
